Printer's ink (i.e., a relatively viscous carbon pigmented ink), supplied in a tube and used in conjunction with a roller and plate, has been the preferred medium for decades to record impressions of the fingers, hands, and feet (hereafter referred to as “fingerprints”). A carbon pigmented ink has also been used to record the tread of vehicular tires and the soles of footwear (hereafter collectively referred to as “tread prints”). The shortcoming of these methods is the nature of the ink. Typically, printer's ink is slippery when freshly applied to a plate, which can make inking of the subject difficult. This same difficulty is often experienced when transferring the inked subject to the recording surface, such as paper, in the form of smears or smudges. Printer's ink must be allowed to dry before the document can be handled without damaging the fidelity of the impressions. Printer's ink soils not only the subject, but also the associated tooling and working surfaces. Removal of this ink requires special cleaners or solvents, many of which are hazardous to humans and to the environments and all of which add time and expense to the process. Much ink is wasted because what remains on the roller and plate dries within a brief period and cannot be reused. Over time, the components of printer's ink, may and often do, separate within the packaging, such as a tube, into masses of clear oil and concentrated pigment. This instability impairs the consistency of the fingerprints and tread prints.
The staining problem associated with printer's ink has been overcome to a large extent through the development of inkless or substantially nonstaining inking systems such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,488,750 B 1 (“'750 patent”); 6,027,556 (“'556 patent”); 5,919,292 (“'292 patent”); 4,983,415 (“'415 patent”) and 4,262,623 (“'623 patent”). Such patents are incorporated herein by reference. While such inkless or nonstaining ink compounds leave little, generally substantially invisible, residue on a person's finger, some clean up is often required.
With respect to the recording of tire tread features, Lawren A. Nause, RCMP, developed a method in which the tire tread surface is coated with a petroleum jelly. The tire is then rolled over a cardboard material. The resulting track left on the cardboard by the petroleum jelly is then developed with a black magnetic latent print powder to obtain a two-dimensional recording of the tire's tread features, i.e., surface characteristics. The record track is then protected by covering it with a clear acetate material. A silicone substance, such as that found in shoeshine sponges, can be substituted for the petroleum jelly and the powdered track protected by the application of a quick drying clear lacquer.
While this method produces clear tire track prints, the powder application and protective covering requirements are time consuming. An alternative method is the preparation of a rather large inking pad containing conventional fingerprint ink and driving the tire over the pad and onto a recording surface. This method requires a large preparation area to accompany both the inking pad and recording surface, which can exceed 14 feet, if an entire rotation of a tire is desired. There is also the added requirement of preparing the large inking pad to transfer a good uniform coating of ink to the tread area. A clean up procedure is also generally required.
A need exists for a printing compound suitable for the above purposes while eliminating many of the shortcomings of the prior art.